Players feel coming out as gay could add pressure to their tennis, feels Liam Broady

Liam Broady feels that tennis players who identify as gay still face challenges that add to their reluctance to openly come out as gay. While there are many supportive people around, Broady believes that there are those who are 'close minded' and would not easily accept homosexual players on tour.

Additionally, Broady also feels that there might be certain players who are afraid that coming out could negatively impact their tennis. The 29-year-old hopes to see more players feeling confident and comfortable of revealing their sexuality without such fears.

The British tennis star shared his thoughts on the matter during a recent interview with Clay Tenis.

"Same in tennis and in life: most people would be completely normal and be like congratulations, well done, no problem; but there’s always some people maybe that would be close minded and maybe that’s why they might think they wouldn’t be accepted by all the players," Liam Broady opined.

"Maybe they feel that coming out will add pressure to their tennis. I can understand why is complicated. I hope that if people were, they feel comfortable to come out and be themselves."

Citing positive examples from the football and rugby worlds, Broady expressed his desire to see more openness in the tennis world too.

"A football player and maybe a rugby player came out recently, which is good. Hopefully starts to develop like this and more and more people feel comfortable," he added.

Broady competed in the Srpska Open in Banja Luka this week, where he lost to Damir Dzumhur in the opening round after entering the main draw through the qualifiers.

Liam Broady: Lots of both the guys and girls prefer to have events separated

Liam Broady competes at The Championships - Wimbledon 2022.

Liam Broady further shed light on the environment on the professional tour and whether players from the ATP and WTA interact with each other often. The British player said that on the pro tour, players tend to be very professional and do not indulge in many interactions.

He also admitted that many male as well as female players prefer to have separate events rather than mixed gender events as that helps them get ideal practice schedules and courts a lot easier, and thus prepare better.

"In ATP and WTA level everyone is so professional and so focused. There’s no much interactions. I think lots of both of the guys and girls prefer to have events separated, because then there are no issues with the practice courts, schedules, and stuff like this. Just for a matter of the preparation," Broady revealed.

Broady is currently ranked No. 132 in the ATP rankings.